What is Christmas really about?

1. Fulfillment of a divine promise.

(Because everything that God does is fulfillment of His desire; your birth is God’s desire)
2. How to bring God’s assignment in lifetime to fulfillment
3. Christ as an excellent example of conceiving and delivering divine purpose to earth.

Greet everyone Merry Christmas!

I thank the Lord for the opportunity given to me to stand before everyone here in Heaven’s Gate! It is an honor and very special privilege.
I sincerely thank Pastor Edgar- Pastora Michelle, Pastor Wilmer & family for sharing the pulpit to the servant of the Lord!
I thank Heaven’s Gate Ministry for helping my family here to grow in their walk of their faith; salamat po ng marami sa inyong mga buhay.

I would like to ask permission as well – that I will speak partly Tagalog and English dahil dun po ako naryuam (hehehehe); it will be easy English and Tagalog dahil
naniniwala po akong ang mga llocanos ay mahusay sa English at Tagalog – Amen.

Our main verse for today’s celebration is found in:

Luke 1:28

“The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you”.

Prayer:
Early Pointers: (as popcorn)
1. You are born to deliver something from God (it could be something to your family, ministry, community from God)
2. Your birth is a result of something God want to fulfill.
3. Everything that God does is an example of his own principles.

Luke 1: 26-45 (NIV) – read the story

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

Luke 1:26 - 38
26 
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be
married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings,
you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be
afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be
great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over
Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be
born will be called[b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be
unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

Luke 1:39-45
39 
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,  40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted
Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a
loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the
mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for
joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Though the story sounds familiar to everyone, we are going to study the lesson on different approach:

LIFE LESSONS – What God wants us to fulifill and the God’s way of fulfilling your divine assignment:
1. Your assignment may interfere/ interrupt with your previous and/or current commitment and relationship.
- Mary was already engaged when God’s assignment came to her and for somehow interrupted that engagement.
- In life, we are fixed with our plans and when God calls us to do something- we think that God is interrupting; well in
fact God is setting us to do something greater.

(My plan abroad ay para kumita, matustusan ng maayos ang pamilya, mkapagpundar maari… it was a beautiful plan and I’ am
committed to this plan so, I engaged myself to fulltime work as an OFW; ganun din ang aking asawa)
Along the way, while we are busy to reach the height of our dreams na mag- asawa; God called us to serve Him in the Church and
serve the believers in Dubai.
- Serving God and the believers were never in our plan.
- Our plan, kumita ng mas malaki at mas tumaas ang antas ng pamumuhay ; when God interrupted this plan.
- Sa totoo lang mga kapatid, mas madaling maghanap ng pera sa Dubai kesa maghanap at mag-invite ng kaluluwa.
And praise be to God – when we accepted the Lord’s assignment to our lives, we were able to help about a hundred of people to start
up their new life with Jesus Christ and this a about a hundred of people are now also working in God’s ministry in Dubai.
- We worked with our job at day and we work with the ministry of the Lord in the night (actually, most of the time – all the night;
nonstop po yan).
Masarap abutin ang ating mga personal na pangarap sa ating buhay, subalit walang hihigit sa kaligayahang asamin at sundin ang
pangarap ng Dyos sa atin.

- Let us go back to Mary, Mary can say to the angel: aaah- I have an engagement ring over my finger and one brother
(Joseph) is waiting for me in the isle; I cannot do this! You cannot interrupt my engagement and wedding plans!
- Imagine if Mary replied like that to the Angel- she could have abandoned the entire salvation plan of God to mankind!
- So, in fulfilling our divine assignment, God will interrupt our plans, little that we know- He set up greater things for us!
- Sino dito ang nais naming magpa interrupt?

2. In your assignment – you are highly favored! (The angel said to Mary – you are highly favored)
Yes, you are highly favored even you don’t feel like it!
Friends, believe me with this: God want to do through you things which you can’t believe you could do!
(Yes, through you - Maraming bagay ang nais ng gawin ng Panginoon sa iyong buhay – na hindi mo akalaing kaya mo ngang gawin)
The problem is:
Because most of us see far less of ourselves than God does; and God will always shock you by his assignment in your life
Because you think that you are what people say you are; NOT what God says you are!
You may be sitting next to someone who are destined for greatness; he/she may look normal now- but in him/her is an
assignment that is about to happen.
(Some will say...I ‘am 40,50,60 what are you saying… listen Abraham was 75 when God called him and he had changed the
world) –
Remember this: God still has a big plan for your life! (In spite of all your failure and low self-esteem – God has a big plan for
your life).

See this how highly favored you are: God did not ask the angel to go to great rich, wealthy family, He went to a poor village.
You are not born just to make a living;
You are born to make a difference!

3. Your assignment will always require God’s involvement.

Mary asked? How can this be?
The Angel said: The Holy Spirit will come upon you!
God will never give you an assignment that does not require him.

If you are doing your dream without God – the it is not God’s will. God’s will- will always require God!
God will always ask you to do something that makes Him necessary.
God’s assignment creates dependency on God.
4. In fulfilling your assignment, you will need the right people in your life.
The angel gave Mary two answers when she asked, how can this be?
(It is everybody’s question if you have a big dream in your life- you will be asking God, how can this be?)

God is giving us 2 answers:

1. Holy Spirit – who is God.
2. The angel said: Elizabeth is pregnant

Who is Elizabeth? She is a very interesting woman. She is what everybody needs in life.
She’s an old woman and beyond age to give birth; old pregnant woman walking around with a miracle baby.
Elizabeth represents a lot of important things:
1. She is older than you in the work
2. She is advance in experience. (She is 6 months advance in pregnancy than Mary).
She already gone through the changes (morning sickness, changing of clothes, bad feelings, adjusting on food)
She knows that God can do it – because she herself has a miracle baby.

If you have dream/ assignment from God you have to look for people who:
have done something…
have been through something…
know more than you
they already achieve some success
they already change their clothes

Example: you are broke and I broke; we broke. (Hwag masyado sasama sa mga broke; Chinese- pareho wala pera, di
pwede magsama)
You are as rich as the friends you have and you are as broke as the friends you have.

The angel said: Mary, Elizabeth is pregnant! –

means God wants us to find the right company;
the right people in life; who can encourage you to keep your dream;
who can tell you, that is okay, I have pass through that
Someone who can explain what is going through your life.
(Identify and thank your Elizabeth in life- in your home, it could be your parents, in the church, your
Pastors, your ministry leader, your mentors).

5. Move and stay to the right environment to cultivate your dream/ assignment
The story said that Mary act immediately when she received her assignment. Do it unto me she said. And she went and
stayed with Elizabeth.
Friends, most of the time we need to leave certain environment to fulfill your dream/ assignment in life.
(Iiwan natin yung mga kaibigang hindi maganda ang influence, masamang ugali, buhay na nakagisnan, lifestyle na
nakalakihan).

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about six months means she grew her assignment with somebody who did not attack her,
who did not criticize her, who did not say this cannot be.

You need to be in the environment that will keep your dream alive
You need to be in the environment that will tell you:
You can do this!
Yes, it is Possible!
Yes, you will!
Yes, you can!
 How do you know that your vision, goal, dream, your assignment is from God?
If your vision only profits you – it is not from God.
(I got a vision of a mansion, a brand-new car, bank account with hundred thousand of dollar and I play golfs- and it is all for you- it is not a
Godly vision, it is an ambition! Because a vision, dream, assignment from God will certainly benefits others and impact life of others, to
help people, to advance people).

6. Your assignment has a time and process.

Don’t panic if your dream/ assignment will take a while. God will let it come to pass.
Don’t be frustrated if it seems to be taking long

7. Many will not recognize or will not give a room for your dream
When Mary is going to deliver her baby, she went to the Inn for a room, but they said we have no room for you.
If there is one thing this ministry/this church should be known for: is that we should serve as incubator for many dreams.

We in the church should encourage people to pursue their dreams.

We should not be dream killer machine!!!! There is no room in our life for your crazy dream. The Inn of full.

****
The Lord said: I make sure that the Inn is full
Lord- why you don’t want your son to be born in a nice bed with air-condition, nice things.
No- I will make it sure that the inn is full, I want to make sure that my son is born on a hay,
Why? Because God wants to encourage everyone of us here, that we may be born in the worst condition, but still become
great in life. (Jesus Christ became the King of Kings)

It is not really where you were born young man, young woman, you got nothing, you are sleeping on the floor like us
before, God said it is okay, my son was worst, he was born outside, he was born among sheep, he was born on a hay.
How bad it is when you were born, how bad is your condition at the moment, yet you can be great.
God cancels all our excuses not to do great things!
God cancels all our excuses not to be great in our dreams/ assignment

Let us give God a mighty clap of praise for there is greatness in you.

Call the Music Team

Ministerial:
Sa ating pinag usapan, nangungusap sa iyo ang Panginoon. Marami kang nais pang gawin, pangarap sa buhay, pangarap
para sa Panginoon…meron kang challenges, meron kang fear, meron kang doubt how you are going to fulfill all these
assignments?

God knows what is inside of you; you may be thinking that you are nothing at the moment (anong pinagsasabi ng babaing
ito?, eto nga at luma ang suot ko, iyun at iyon ang sinusuot ko- I got to tell you that you are somebody! Inside of you is a

Maliit lang bahay nmin, sa mababang paaralan lng ako nag aaral- never hate small beginnings: Great things start from small
beginnings (sab inga ng Milo)

God will prosper you according to your assignment. God wants to bless you of what you need to complete his works, to
complete that dream/ assignment.

I would like to ask Pastor Edgar/ Pastor Wilmer to lay their hands over you and pray for you and Pastor Edgar will eventually
bless us through the benediction.